23 August 2019

Egyptian Nightjars - Jubail

Whilst birding at Jubail today I saw a number of Egyptian Nightjars. They are now an easily seen species during the summer months in this area. Birds generally turn up in early June and depart in late September with records of early and late birds occurring every year for the past few years. Numbers have increased almost every year since they were first found in 2006. It is quite likely birds breed in the area or very nearby but I have not had any confirmation of this yet although juveniles were seen in June this year indicating strongly they do breed. You can get very close to them in the car without disturbing them as they are convinced their camouflage can hide them from anything. I managed to get a couple of flight shots of the bird as we got out of the car to move the bird from the track. We saw four different birds but did not try to find as many as we could as we did not want to disturb them and they sit in tamarisk cover and flush easily.
Egyptian Nightjar

Egyptian Nightjar

Egyptian Nightjar

Egyptian Nightjar

Egyptian Nightjar